FOR
six decades, Americans have tended to drive more every year. But in
the middle of the last decade, the number of miles driven — both
over all and per capita — began to drop, notes a report by
U.S. Pirg, a nonprofit advocacy organization. People tend to drive
less during recessions, since fewer people are working (and
commuting), and most are looking for ways to save money. But Phineas
Baxandall, a senior analyst for U.S. Pirg, said the changes preceded
the recent recession and appeared to be part of a structural shift
that is largely rooted in changing demographics, especially the rise
of so-called millennials — today’s teenagers and
twentysomethings. Younger
people are less likely to drive — or even to have driver’s
licenses — than past generations for whom driving was a birthright
and the open road a symbol of freedom. Research by the Transportation
Research Institute at the University of Michigan suggests that online
life
might have something to do with the change: “A higher proportion of
Internet users was associated with a lower licensure rate. This
finding is consistent with the hypothesis that access to virtual
contact reduces the need for actual contact among young people.”
DO
we really want to be privy with your kids' stuff these days? Today,
parents are just one click away from their 14-year olds' shenanigans:
buddied up on Facebook, logging on to Tumblr, peering over cryptic
text messages and trying to get a glimpse of Snapchat images before
they dissolve into the ether. Freely see them guzzle
beer, flirt with a girl who squeezes her bosom in every “selfie”
she posts on Instagram, and describe a fellow ninth grader in
language saltier than any you ever used at that age. Maybe
you are a parent who never even heard your kid swear. Yet you had no
idea where they went after they slammed the door behind you.
According
to a study of 802 parents of teenagers by the Pew Internet Project,
59 percent of parents of teenagers on social-networking sites have
talked to their child because they were concerned about something
posted to their profile or account, and 42 percent have searched for
their child’s name online to see what info is out there. Tough!
That is why parenting is always an individual matter. But talking to
them remains the key—just don't do it via texting or Facebook
posts.
A
GROUP of investors from Mountain View, California, partners of Y
Combinator, an organization that can be likened to a sleep-away camp
for start-up companies, are doing what could be the trend in future
“buy out” economics. These energetic bunch of dot.com wizards
check out cool ideas from entrepreneurs desperately wanting “start
up” capital, sink their own money in exchange for, of course, stake
in the company. Among
more prominent start-ups that graduated from Y.C.’s class were the
social-news site Reddit, the web-site builder Infogami, file-sharing
service Dropbox, and online market for vacation rentals Airbnb... I
am seeing a future where all companies in the world are owned by
maybe only five huge corporations—splintered via “small”
investors ready to sink moolah into your brainstorm for a
considerable percentage of your profit, then buy you out later. Like
a morbid futuristic movie. Or the future is happening now.
LISTEN
up, environmentalists who believe newsprints have to be dissed in
favor of electronic devices: Americans replace their cellphones every
22 months, junking some 150 million old phones in 2010 alone. Ever
wondered what happens to all these old phones? In far-flung, mostly
impoverished places like Agbogbloshie, Ghana; Delhi, India; and
Guiyu, China, children pile e-waste into giant mountains and burn it
so they can extract the metals — copper wires, gold and silver
threads — inside, which they sell to recycling merchants for only a
few dollars. In India, young boys smash computer batteries with
mallets to recover cadmium, toxic flecks of which cover their hands
and feet as they work. Women spend their days bent over baths of hot
lead, “cooking” circuit boards so they can remove slivers of gold
inside. Greenpeace, the Basel Action Network and others have posted
YouTube videos of young children inhaling the smoke that rises from
burned phone casings as they identify and separate different kinds of
plastics for recyclers.
MORE
Americans now die of suicide than in car accidents, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2010 there
were 33,687 deaths from motor vehicle crashes and 38,364 suicides.
Suicide
has typically been viewed as a problem of teenagers and the elderly.
But recent studies say that suicide rate among middle-aged people
have risen
sharply in the past decade, prompting concern that a generation of
baby boomers who have faced years of economic worry and easy access
to prescription painkillers may be particularly vulnerable to
self-inflicted harm. “There may be something about that group (baby
boomers), and how they think about life issues and their life choices
that may make a difference,” says C.D.C.’s deputy director,
Ileana Arias. The rise in suicides may also stem from the economic
downturn over the past decade. Historically, suicide rates rise
during times of financial stress and economic setbacks. “The
increase does coincide with a decrease in financial standing for a
lot of families over the same time period,” Dr. Arias said. Another
factor may be the widespread availability of opioid drugs like
OxyContin and oxycodone, which can be particularly deadly in large
doses.
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